Bread-slicing machine.



M. KRONFELD. BREAD SLICING MACHINE. APPLIGATION FILED Anchs, 1914v Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

M. KRONFBLD. BREAD smome mmmm APPLICATION FILED A Patented Mar. 16, 1915 WITNESSES 1177i 7, MVVENIOH Mar/m firo/ fe/d MAXIM KRONFELD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BBEAD-SLICING MACHINE.

Application filed August 8, 191-4.

T 0 all whom. it may concern lie it known that I, MAXIM Knon'rnLn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Man hattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Bread-Slicing Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to machines for use in private families, restaurants, hotels or the like, and has particular reference to machines for slicing whole loaves or large pieces of bread in a rapid, easy and uniform manner.

Among the objects of the invention, more definitely stated, is to provide a machine having a base and guard for holding a loaf of bread in substantially definite position, a series of knives and means for actuating all of said knives simultaneously in parallel planes so as to reduce the entire loaf or any desired portion thereof in a single operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide facilities for slicing a loaf of either at right angles to the axis of the leaf or at any other desired angle, using a single machine for this purpose and requiring but a few additional interchangeable parts.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the drawings forming a part of this specifica tion in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the right hand end of a machine indicating one form of the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, the frontof the machine for the sake of description being regarded as indicated at the bottom. of the figure; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3- 3 of Fig. .3; Fig. 4: is a perspective view of a detail described below; and Fig. 5 is a right hand elevation of a modification.

The several parts of the device may be made of any suitable materials, and the relative sizes and proportions, as well as the general design Of tlIQ mechanism. may be varied to a considerable extent without departing from the spirit of the invention hereinafter more fully described and. specifically claimed.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings 1 show a frame comprising right and left hand brackets 10 and 11 adapted to be Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

Serial No. 855,844.

supported in substantially vertical parallel planes upon any desired support such as a table or the like (not shown). These brackets l0 and 11 may be connected by bracing rods or bars 12 of any suitable length or character. Each of the bracket members preferably includes a horizontal bar 13 provided with vertical slots 14.

At 15 I show a base of any suitable material a nd having a flat upper surface adapted.

to support a loaf of bread B to be sliced. This base 15 may be provided with or be secured to end flanges 16 fitted against the inner surfaces of the bars 13 and secured by means of bolts or screws 17 extending through the slots 14. By this means the base 15 may be adjusted vertically may be desired, and when so adjusted, held in fixed position upon the frame brackets for the urposes of the invention.

T he loaf of bread is adapted to be held in a stationary manner and in any desired position upon the base 15 by a guard member 18 shown in the drawings as made preferably of sheet metal and having a plurality of fingers 19 extending upwardly at the back of the base and thence forwardly, providing an ample space for the loaf to be introduced between the base and the upper portions of the fingers, either from the front of the machine or either end thereof. The

guard is shown as comprising a web 20 hav' ing vertical slots 21 through which screws or bolts 22 are adapted to pass into the base 15 for the purpose of determining the desired position of the guard with respect to said base.

At the corners of the frame or the main support of the machine 1 provide hubs 23 into which are journaled on horizontal axes 24 a set of gear members 25. The gear members are preferably all of the same size and character as to any one machine, and are so arranged that the two at the front of the machine are coaxial and the two in the rear are likewise coaxial or have their axes 24 in alinement. It will be understood, however, with reference especially to Fig. 3, that each of the axes of these gear members is short, not extending across the machine. Any suitable means may be provided to opcrate all of the gear members: 3 simultaneously and positively and in tin- -rame direction. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, said gear members are in the nature of spur gears and each pair of gears at the end of the machine are connected directly by a spur gear 26 secured rigidly to a cross shaft :27 journaled in bearings 28 at the upper part of the support brackets i l and 11. A: an illustration of means for rotating the sha l 1*." l show a. cranl 21) which may be connected to either end thereof. The (llLUIltltL oi. the Wheels 26 may be of any desired size with respect to the gear members 25 whereby the number of rotations of the same and shaft 27 may vary with respect to a complete 1o tation of the first mentioned gear members. As shown, however, the wheels are all oi the same size and hence the shaft 27 is given one complete rotation for each rotation of the. gears At 30 I show a set of similar knives having their lower edges sharp and arranged o operation in parallel vertical planes extending transversely of the machine. These tuives are shown mounted or suspended above the base upon a pair of rods 31 unending between the gear members parallel to each other and longitudinally of the machine. These rods being located in the non horizontal plane, the knives are by il' flfl held so as to maintain their cutting ges in the same horizontal plane. The ives are spaced from each other each to at any desired distance, depending upon the thickness of the slices to be formed, d such spaces are determined by thimbles through which the rods extend. It will understood that when the gears 25 are --tated. similar points of the knives will 1.. worried in circular paths in vertical plane the diameter of such circular paths being identical with the diameter of the paths oi the centers of the rods 31. The base 15 being adjustable vertically may be set so as to coiiperate with any desired degree of proximity to the edges ofthe knives as they reach their lowermost limit of movement. A indicated, for instance, in Figs. 1 and 3, by rotation of the movable members in the direction of the arrows, the knives will be carried forwardly, downwardly and thence marwardly in circular paths, sweeping osely to the upper surface of the base on their rearward movement, cutting the loaf 2' -10 slices while it is held within the guard against the rear portion of the fingers r wet. the knives operating in this conneca between the several fingers 19.

Fig. 4 I show a modification of guard having lingers 19' and bottom extensions l'i of different lengths. The web 20 and the manner of connecting the web to the haw are or may be as previously described. but by reason 01 the ditlcrencc in length of the xtensions 19 of the fingers which lie wl-uun' the upper surface of the base 15, the loaf will be given a diagonal disposition with respect to the longitudinal axis of the machine. By this arrangement I am able to slice the loa i by diagonal cuts, as is demanded in some instances. 7 or changing any part of the machine except the guard.

In the unuli ration shown in Fig. 5, the gear llllll2 \l ?.a are in the form of sprocket wheels and are journaled on short axes 2i at the upper corners of supporting bracket mbmbers ill and 11. quite similar to the arrangement first described. The base 15 and guard 18 likewise are secured within the frame as brl'orr stated, and the knives are secured to .-ili(l tour gear members and l't) l ll for operation in substantially the same manner as already set forth. Each pair of gear members 25' at either end the machine are connected in this instance for simultaneous movement by a sprocket chain 26'. A crank 29 may be connected to the axis of any one of these sprocket gears for operation of such gear, and the other gear oi" the same pair through the chain 26', and to cause the gears at one end to o crate n unison with those at the other end provide a cross shaft 21' having a pinion 27 secured to each end thereof, said pinions meshing with the respective chains. To counterbalance the weight of the knives I may use any desired number of weights 33 secured preferably to the gear members diametrically opposite from the rods 31 The crank 29 may also be counterbalanced by a weight 34 if. desired. Obviously the gear members 25 of the modification first described may be provided with counterbalances, but in the arrangement shown the crank 29 may serve in this capacity, being preferably so connected as to extend from its axis in a direction opposite from the knives and their supporting rods.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:-

1. In a bread slicing machine, the combination of a frame comprising a pair of parallel end brackets, a bread supporting base secured between the brackets, a guard, a series of similar gear members journaled each on its own axis at the upper corners of the brackets, a pair of parallel rods connected to the gear members at the front and the rear of the machine, a series of knives upon said rods and extending between them in planes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the machine, and means serving to cause all of the gear'members to rotate in unison in the same direction causing similar points of all of the knives to describe similar circles while the knives approach and sweep across the bread supporting base adjacent said guard, substantially as shown and described.

In a bread slicing machine, the combination of parallel end brackets, means maintaining the brackets in definite relation to each other, a bread support secured between and without altering the lower portions of the brackets, a guard cooperating with the bread sup ort to hold a loaf thereon in substantially efinite position, pairs of similar gear members journaied upon short axes upon the respective brackets, means connecting all of the gear members causing them to rotate simultaneously in the same direction, a series of knives connected to the gear members eccentric to the supporting axes thereof and in a plane parallel to the upper surface of the bread support, and counterbalancing means serving to hold the knives'in spaced relation to the bread support, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MAXIM KRONFELD.

Witnesses:

GEO. L. BEELER, PHILIP D. ROLLHAUS. 

